50/30/20 Budget Calculator
Split take-home pay into needs, wants and savings, and compare with real spending.
About this tool
Enter your monthly take-home pay and choose a rule. Then enter what you actually spend on needs, wants and savings. The calculator shows each bucket's target, your actual spending and the difference, flags overspending, and tells you how much of your income is unallocated or overspent.
How the 50/30/20 budget works
The 50/30/20 rule, popularised by Elizabeth Warren and Amelia Warren Tyagi in the book All Your Worth, divides take-home pay into three buckets. About 50% goes on needs: housing, utilities, groceries, insurance, transport and minimum debt payments. About 30% goes on wants, such as eating out, subscriptions, hobbies and holidays. The remaining 20% goes to savings and paying debt off faster. On 3,200 a month that means 1,600 for needs, 960 for wants and 640 for savings. Its strength is simplicity: three numbers to watch instead of dozens of categories. Other splits suit other situations. 70/20/10 or 60/20/20 fit high-cost cities where housing alone takes much of the income, and 80/20, saving 20% and spending the rest freely, is the simplest of all. Honest limits: it is a starting point, not a law. Rent can exceed half of take-home pay in some places, and clearing high-interest debt may deserve more than 20%. Use income after tax. Not financial advice. The budget planner tracks detailed categories, the emergency fund calculator sizes your safety net and the savings goal calculator plans targets. How to set a savings goal: the arithmetic, the interest, and the habits that make it stick helps decide what the 20% is for.
Frequently asked questions
What is the 50/30/20 rule?
A budgeting guideline: spend about 50% of take-home pay on needs, 30% on wants and put 20% towards savings and extra debt repayment.
Is rent a need or a want?
Rent or mortgage payments are needs. A more expensive home than you need can push part of the cost into wants.
What if my needs are more than 50%?
Try a 60/20/20 or 70/20/10 split for now, and look for the biggest fixed costs to reduce over time.
Is my data saved?
No. The calculation runs in your browser and nothing is stored or sent.